Vending-machine



A. ABBOTT VENDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 20. 1919.

1,367,678 Patented Feb. 8,1921.

INVENTOR. Aueasrus Aaaorr ATTORNEY.

UNITED stares AUGUSTUS ABBOTT, OF DENVER, COLORADO.

VENDING-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 8, 1921.

Application filed January 20, 1919. Serial No. 272,038.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, A oUsTUs Aneo'r'r, a citizen of the United States, residing at Denvcr, in the county of Denver and State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Vending-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in coin-controlled vending machines and more particularly to vending machines of the type shown and described in my application for patent No. 209,459, filed December 29, 1917, of which the present application is in part a continuation. j

It is the primary object of my invention to provide a machine of simple construction which operates by the deposit of a coin of determinate value to deliver one of a selected kind of quantities of different chewing gums or other small confections which are contained in separated compartments of a case of suitable construction.

Another object of my invention resides in providing a novel contrivance for preventing the removal of the articles of merchandise from the case in which they are contained, by means other than the deposit of a coin of the required va ue, and in providing a simple appliance which in the event of a second coin being deposited in the machine to obtain an article of selected kind before a first coin deposited for the same purpose has performed its function, will. automatically retain said second coin until. after the delivery of the article through the instrumentality of the first coin, the operating mechanism of the machine has reassumed its normal position.

With these objects in view my invention cons sts of the devices and combinations of parts shown in their pref rred form in the Fig. 4:, a fragmentary section taken on the line 4-4, Fig. 2, drawn to an enlarged scale, and

Fig. 5, a fragmentary horizontal section on the line 55, Fig. 2. Referring more specifically to the drawings, the reference character 2 designates a preferably rectangular case whirh by a horizontal partition 3 is divided into an upper merchandise chamber 4 and a lower coinchamber 5.

The last-mentioned chamber of the case contains a sliding drawer 6 in which the coins A used in operating the vending nechanism are delivered through openings 7 1n the partition and which is locked in its closed position by a rod 8 which extends through an aperture in the partition and within the drawer to prevent its sliding movement by engagement with its inner end.

The front portion of the upper chamber is by means of a vertical back-plate 9 and a plurality of side p ates 10 extending at right angles thereto. divided into a number of adjoining compartments 12 which in practice contain staclrs of pieces of gum or other articles of merchandise. 7

T he wall of the case immediately in front of the merchandise compartments has a pane of glass 13 through which the contents of the compartments are visible, and the case is covered at its top by a hinged lid 14 which is secured in its closed position bya padlock 15. l

The pane ot'glass is mounted to slide upward v when the lid is open, fortlie purpose of facilitating the pla ement of thestacks of merchandise in the different compartments of the case. i a

An anc'le bar 15 secured at its ends to the case as best shown in Fig. 1 ofthe drawin s, isspaced from the forward port on of the partition 3 to provide a passage 16 through which the articles of merchandi e contained in the compartments may be singly delivered by the operation of the coin-controlled mechanism. the bar having a longitudinal ridge 17 for the support ofthe pane of glass 13.

Slidinglv imoun'ted upon thefloor of the merchandise chamber in alinement with the dili'er'ent compartments. are pu l-bar s 18 made of flat strips of metal which are held against lateral displacement in guidewa s 19. V

The forward ends of the bars, projecting *eXtent'required to deliver he rnerchandisc upstanding shoulders 31 which norn ally extend rearward of and in close proX- provided wit "sides thereof, li ts the "cope-ct "ment as will through the passage 16, have flanges 20.

holds to facilitate their operative movement by an outward pull.

' The flanges at the forward ends of the bars also provide means for the attachment of coi ed springs 22 which extending through openingsin the front of thecasing beneath the horizontal partition, are fastened to a cross-bar 23. V V V The bars carry at their rear ends narrow coin-pockets 2-1 which when the bars are in their normal condition of rest, are alined with vertical coin-chutes 25 extending along the rear wall of the case.

T he chutes connect at their upper ends with slanting slide-ways 26 which at their forward extremitiescommunicate with coin slots 2? in the forward flange of the lid 14.

'Ihepoclrets at the ends of thesliding -pull-bars are proportioned to hold a coin of the bars the pockets brought in alinement with the heforernentioned openings 7 in the partition 3, the coins will drop into the drawer in the lower chamber of the case. 7

The top edges of the coin-pockets are i upstanding shoulders Qclfor cooperation with gravity latches 2-9 which are pivctally niountcd on brackets 30' on the hack plate' 9 and which normallv rest upon the po'cl ies forward of the shoulders to he enaae ed thereby in i the forward movement of the bars. I

When a; co n is deposited pockets l'iS portion e; ah eve the e latch above theline of niovenicnt orthe shoulder 28 during forward movement of the bar on =whic'hthe pocket is carried and thereby contained in the corr sp'oi'iding comparthereinafter he more fully ex. plained.

The pull bars have with this end in'view,

arty to the correspondingcompartments to enter The shoulders of just enough height to engage the lower one of a stack of articles of merchandise contained the coinpartment and the delivery space the front ;,pf1the compartment beneath the anglerhar l {f l in one the 5 is likewise of sufficient height to only pe mit of the passage of one of the articles of merchandise at one time.

Leaf springs 32 fastened to the floor of the merchandise chamber extend within the different compartments to normally close the passage through which the merchandise is delivered. 7

The springs may be made separately or they may he forined integrally of one piece of metal as shown in Fig. 5, and they slant from the upper surface of the respective pull-bars upwardly to engage at their free ends the under surface of the angle bar by which the passage is defined.

The springs in this positioinrelieve, in cooperation with the adjacent guidaway l9, the bars from the weight of the stack of merchandise contained in the compartment shove the same, and-at the same time close t e delivery openings of the compartments so as to frustrate rraudulent removal of the merchandise by means of knife blade, pin or other similar instrument inserted 7 through the passage.

n; order to prevent incapacitation of the op fating; mechanism when Toy accident or erroneous intent second coin is deposited in one of the coin chutes before a coin previou lv inserted therein has performed its function, the lower porti n of the chutes are reduced l'ilJVl-Tllll] by s, itingz their rear edges away frcrn the surface of the wall of the one along which they extend, and in the tapering spaces thus rined, are placed yieloinogly inoufied c 'n-stops 33 which when the re pective pull hars in their normal pool f inserted in the slide-way 26 connected h one of the chutes, lie-fore the pull-bar i n w ich the first coin was deposited is V ulled forward to deliver the selected piece of merchandise, said second coin will rest upon the other as shown in 2 of the drawings. V I y 1 4 l new when oy r01 wCtlC-i movement ()1. the pull-bar, the coin-poclret is moved out of alinement with the respective chute the second coin falls upon the respective stop which owing to the resiliency of its spring had moved into engagement with the rear edl 'e of the conduit shown in Fig. 3.

he stop in this position obstructs the .passage'of the coin through the end of the conduit and the coin remains in this position until by the return movement of the pull-bar, the stop is again separated from the rearedge of the conduit by engagement with the corresponding edge of the coinpocket.

The coin being thus released, enters the pocket as before and allows of the extraction of a second piece of merchandise from the respective compartment by lifting the latch '29 out of the line of movement of the shoulder on the upper edge of the pocket when the respective bar is again pulled forwardly.

In the operation of the vending machine, stacks of wrapped pieces of gum or other small confections designated by the numeral 35 in Fig. 3, are placed in the compartments, if necessary beneath a similarly wrapped weight 36 to insure their downward movement after the lowermost piece is removed tl'lrough the passage 16.

The purchaser observing through the glass front of the case the brands of the confections appearing on the wrappers of the uppermost pieces of the stacks in the different compartments, drops a coin through the slot 27 alined with the compartment containing the brand he selected, and thenpulls the bar at the bottom of this compartment, outwardly.

The bar which normally is locked against forward motion by the engagement of the gravity latch with the shoulder on the upper edge of its coin-pocket, is released by the passage of the coin into the pocket and with its shoulder 31 engages the lowermost article of the stack contained in the compartment and pushes it forwardly through the passage l6 and over the spring 32 which is depressed thereby.

The bar upon being subsequently released by the purchaser, is automatically returned to its original position by contraction of the spring 22 and the forwardly pushed piece of confection remains in a position in which. it partially projects outside the case and may be grasped for its complete removal from the same.

T he coin which by its lifting action on the gravity-latch released the bar for forward movement, falls into the drawer 6, through the respective opening 7 in the horizontal partition when the pocket in which. it is carried is brought in register therewith.

The springs 32 which close the deliver openings of the different compartments effectively prevent access to the contents thereof by the insertion of a knife blade or other similar instrument and they furthermore cooperate with the adjacent guideways 19 in separating the stacks of gum from the respective pull bars and thereby facilitating the sliding movement of the latter.

The resiliently mounted stops 33 prevent the passage of coins through the ends of the vertical chutes unless the pockets on the re spective bars are in alinement therewith.

It is therefore possible to deposit two or more coins at one time in one of the slots of the machine and obtain a corresponding number of pieces of merchandise by repeated movement of the respective draw-bar, and clogging of the machine by coins passing through the chutes, outside the pockets is effectively avoided.

Having thus described my invention what I claim and desire to secure by Letters-Patout is:

1. In a vending machine, a coin-chute, a slide having a coin pocket which in the normal position thereof, is partially alined with the end of the coin-chute to hold a coin de: posited in said pocket, in a position forward with relation to a second coin resting on the oth r, and a stop disposed to extend beneath the portion of said second coin that projects over the coin in the pocket, and movable with the slide to provide a rest for the sec- 0nd coin after the lower coin has been removed.

2. In a vending machine, a coin chute having its lower end-portion reduced in width, and having slots in opposite edges thereof for the passage of coins, a slide having acoin pocket which in the normal posi tion thereof, is partially alined with the coin chute to hold a coin passing through one of its said slots in a position forward with relation to a second coin resting on the other, and a spring-stop mounted to follow the forward movement of the slide, and

adapted to rest across the other slot whereby to obstruct the passage of the second coin through the end of the chute.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature.

' AUGUSTUS ABBOTT. 

